There has been an increasing recognition in recent years of the desirability of composting organic matter rather than discarding the same. Organic matter when properly composted provides rich humus for the soil. The desirability of composting material has long been recognized. It has also long been recognized that the composting action is facilitated by the addition of microorganisms and enzymes. Such microorganisms and bacteria tend to be present naturally in piles of organic material, particularly if soil is added to the organic material. The amount and type of such microorganisms present in soil and in organic material to be composted is, however, somewhat uncertain and there may be a long period of time between the initial accumulation of the organic material and the presence of any substantial amount of decomposition of the material being composted. In the meantime, undesirable odors can be produced in the material to be composted. For this reason, it has been proposed to add selected bacteria and enzymes to accelerate the composting action. This enables the introduction of the proper microorganisms at the start.
The drawback to the use merely of microorganisms and enzymes is that the initial composting action is still rather slow. This is due to the fact that the bacteria cannot digest the organic material until the cellular structure of the organic material has been broken down by the action of enzymes which break down the protein membranes covering the cells. Hence, until the enzymes have completed their action in breaking down all cell structure to release the protein and carbohydrates, the action of the microorganisms is relatively limited and their initial reproduction rate is relatively low.